Work

From unexceptional to doubly exceptional surface waves

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: An exceptional surface wave can propagate in an isolated direction, when guided by the planar interface of two homogeneous dielectric partnering mediums of which at least one is anisotropic, provided that the constitutive parameters of the partnering mediums satisfy certain constraints. Exceptional surface waves are distinguished from unexceptional surface waves by their localization characteristics: the fields of an exceptional surface wave in an anisotropic partnering medium decay as a combined linear-exponential function of distance from the interface, whereas the decay is purely exponential for an unexceptional surface wave. If both partnering mediums are anisotropic, then a doubly exceptional surface wave can exist for an isolated propagation direction. The decay of this wave in both partnering mediums is governed by a combined linear-exponential function of distance from the interface.

Source: Journal of the Optical Society of America B

DOI: 10.1364/josab.399403

Authors: Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Tom G. Mackay

Institutions: Pennsylvania State University, Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, University of Edinburgh

Language: English

Topic: Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Awards: G4504600580, Voigt waves in bianisotropic materials, G8569650181